What killed this baby manatee? Manatee mortality highest since 2013

Florida Fish and Wildlife officers recovered the body of this baby manatee on Sunday, July 29 in Cape Coral. Photo contributed

A photo taken Sunday in Cape Coral of a dead baby manatee has flooded social media as blue-green algae and red tide menace southwest Florida.

The image, posted on the Facebook page of the Cape Coral Sail and Power Squadron Fishing Group, was taken shortly before Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers could recover the body for a necropsy.

Martine de Wit, a veterinarian with FWC’s Marine Mammal Pathology lab, performed the necropsy Monday.

She said the calf was probably 2 to 3 years old, and that the death for now is being ruled “natural.”

“The animal had a severe infection of parasites in its gut and we see these kinds of infections around this age,” de Wit said. “We don’t know where the parasites come from. It could be transmitted by the environment by little snails that get on the vegetation that the manatees eat.”

De Wit said it will take about a month for red tide toxicity tests to be returned. She said a lab will also test for toxin levels from algae, but that “we’ve never documented any disease in manatees related to blue-green algae.”

Blue-green algae is a problem in the Caloosahatchee River and St. Lucie Estuary this summer following record rains during May.

This year, 484 manatees have died in Florida through July 20. That’s the highest number for this time of year since 2013 when 694 manatees died through mid-July. By the end of 2013, more than 800 manatees were dead, topping the previous record of 766 set in 2010 during a lengthy cold snap.

Just eight of the deaths were in Palm Beach County, with half related to boats or other human interactions. By far the highest number if manatee deaths were in Lee County where 109 died, 52 of which were ruled natural. Red tide-related deaths are categorized as natural.

Of the deaths this year, 29 were red tide-related with another 51 suspected to be from red tide.

“The worst we’ve had so far for red tide was 2013,” de Wit said. “Right now, the numbers are above baseline, and what is unusual, is it’s lasted through the summer.”

It’s unusual to see manatees dying from red tide toxins this time of year, de Wit said.

According to the Fort Myers News-Press, a whale shark that washed up on Sanibel earlier this month died from red tide poisoning. This past weekend nearly 4,000 dead fish were counted on Sanibel beaches and parks.

Storm 2016

About the Author

Kim Miller is the weather reporter for The Palm Beach Post.

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